Have an idea that doesn’t fit a theme? Send it in. Our issues are a blend of thematic and general material, so we need articles on all topics. With the online submission system available at msrs.nsta.org, getting your manuscript to us is simple. Before you sit down to write, check out our manuscript guidelines at www.nsta.org/153.

Here are some of the themes for the upcoming publishing year of Science Scope. We invite you to share your teaching ideas with your colleagues in the middle level science community. Visit msrs.nsta.org to register as an author and submit your article.

Science in Sports and Hobbies—March 2010
Submission Deadline: Extended, October 31, 2009

Tell us how you use the underlying science in sports and hobbies to hook students. We are not only looking for the classic lessons on how the laws of motion apply to a curveball; or how momentum, gravity, and friction apply to skateboarding; we are also looking for lessons on the chemical reactions involved in photography; the simple machines, materials, and structures found in custom bikes; and the effect of air pressure, altitude, and weather on mountain climbers. How have high-tech sports laboratories used science to help improve athletic performance and break records? Send us lessons about the science behind ballet, ice skating, the latest television technology, video games, sailing, model rockets, and remote controlled cars and planes. Share ways to teach the science involved with painting, sculpting, making pottery, woodworking, gardening and bird watching. There’s plenty of science in kids’ sports and leisure time activities—help our readers capitalize on it.

Air/Gases—April/May 2010
Submission Deadline: November 1, 2009

Most middle level students have little understanding of the properties and behavior of gases and do not realize how vital gases are to our lives. What do you do in your classroom to change students’ level of knowledge about gases? Share the activities and lessons you use to teach the involvement of gases in essential biological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration or in Earth processes such as the water cycle, weather, or global warming. How do you connect gases to chemical reactions, explosions and pressure? What can be done to show the use of gases in medicine, hobbies, industrial processes, common devices, and other everyday places?

Reading—Summer 2010
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2009

How do you teach students to use the features of their textbook to get the most out of it? Other than the textbook what content based literature do you use and how do you evaluate it to ensure that it is relevant and meaningful? Share with us the before, during, and after reading strategies you use to maximize students’ comprehension. How do you combine writing with reading? What vocabulary instruction have you found to be effective? How do you communicate with other teachers to reinforce techniques and strategies that students are learning in reading and other content areas? What tips do you have for teaching students to carefully read and understand directions, assignments, test questions, and graphics?

Green Science—NEW!

The purpose of this new column is to raise awareness of the impact people have on the environment and present ways to reduce the use of natural resources and leave a cleaner, more sustainable Earth for future generations. Columns should focus on innovative, “forward thinking” environmentally conscious practices, projects, and programs involving air, water, soil, food, fuel, and building materials. Some possible topics include:

• Lingo of green living
• Green construction: building and remodeling
• Safe paints and wall coverings
• Green plumbing/toilets
• How “green” are lawns?
• Energy saving appliances
• Earth-friendly disposal of used electronic devices
• Green industrial/manufacturing chemistry
• Green agricultural chemistry—insecticides/pesticides/fertilizers
• Green chemistry in home and lab
• Rain water harvesting/permeable pavement/porous asphalt
• Bottled water ban/debate
• Home vegetable gardens
• Hand washing dishes vs. dishwasher
• What happens to old tires?
• Recycling basics
• Building insulation—how it works, what type is best, what is “safe”
• Packaging—paper vs. plastic
• Batteries—impact, alternatives, disposal
• Heating sources—oil, natural gas, electric, wood
• Wind and other alternative energy resources

Issues In-Depth

Submissions to this column should help middle level teachers meet the NSES goal of producing students who “are able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology.” Issues In-Depth articles should provide a primer as well as historical background and up-to-date information on each featured topic. Both sides of any controversy involved should be presented with citations and references to expert opinions, pro and con. Instructional strategies should be suggested and supplemental websites, books, and media resources should be provided. Some possible topics include:

• Ocean management/overfishing
• Health benefits of various herbs, supplements, and foods
• Loss of pollinators/bees
• Wildfires
• North Atlantic Oscillation/El Nino
• Safety of wireless computers, cell phones, electromagnetic waves
• Nanobots, nanoparticles, nanotech in medicine
• Laser surgery
• Dead zones in Gulf of Mexico/ocean environments
• Rogue waves
• Vaccine safety
• Safety of health and beauty products
• Organ transplants/medical devices
• New materials/composites/alloys/polymers
• Update on stem cell research
• Organically grown foods/buying local produce
• Control of coastal erosion/building on coastlines

Teacher’s Toolkit

In this column, you can share your how-to instructional strategies, practical advice, and classroom applicable results of action research with fellow middle level teachers. Tell us how you efficiently navigate today’s vast quantity of resources and websites to craft new lesson plans or to redesign/update older lessons to improve student achievement. What research-based practices do you use to guide your teaching?

Tried and True column

Do you have an activity that has withstood the test of time, one that deserves a place in any collection of lab classics? Perhaps you have been doing it so long that you have forgotten where you originally found it, or you have changed it so much that it hardly resembles the original. Tell us what makes the activity worth keeping. Is it the never-fail excitement it generates with students? Is it the clarity with which it teaches a concept? Is it the ease with which it develops valued lab or process skills? What special ingredients or twists do you add to make the classic version even better? Check the archives of the Tried and True column to see what you can add to make our collection complete.